Android tablet shipments could grow by 134% in 2012

Non-Apple and iPad shipments could reach 45 million and 55 million units next year, respectively

by Allen Ngo, 2011/08/09

The Google Android platform is showing no signs of slowing down and may be about to grow even faster by next year.

According to DigiTimes sources, non-Apple tablets are set to ship at 134% more units for 2012 than in the current year. In raw numbers, expect 44-45 million non-Apple tablets to ship in 2012, up from 19-20 million. The large increase is attributed to Google’s next major Android release, codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich, which is set to release sometime before the end of this year.

More CPU manufacturers will also be set to release their respective next-gen processors for a number of tablets, such as Nvidia’s Tegra 3 and TI’s OMAP 5 series. The resulting wider selection and variety of tablets is expected to be a boon for the Android platform as well.

Not all is bad news on Apple’s front, however. The same source is also predicting a 55% increase in shipments next year compared to this year for Apple’s iPad lineup, from around 35 million to 55 million. Overall, tablet forecasts are positive from most every market watcher and analyst, at least for the near future.